Moratorium on fracking in New Jersey expires

The controversial practice of drilling natural gas out of bedrock by fracking is no longer banned in New Jersey.

The state’s one-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, imposed last year by Governor Christie, expired Thursday, and environmental groups lamented that the state is now exposed to the potential pollution that many critics say can be caused by the procedure.

The state legislature in late 2011 had sent Christie a bill that permanently banned hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, but the governor had issued a conditional veto which limited the ban to a year, because he wanted to wait for the results of a study underway by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to assess the potential effects of fracking on drinking water supplies.

The EPA was expected to produce a preliminary report by late last year, but did not release any conclusions, and said it expects to release a draft report in late 2014. The EPA is overseeing 18 research projects on the issue.

Earlier this month, Declan J. O’Scanlon, Jr. a Republican assemblyman from Monmouth County, introduced a bill that would extend New Jersey’s fracking moratorium until the EPA’s report is released and reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The bill is still in committee. A Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Sen. Robert Gordon, D-Fair Lawn.

The bill language notes that fracking chemicals “can suddenly and in an uncontrolled manner be introduced into the surface waters and ground water” and that “companies engaging in the use of this drilling technique have been less than forthcoming in revealing the ‘cocktail’ of chemicals and their volume that can be introduced” into the water. It also cited a 2010 uncontrolled release of contaminated water from a fracking drill site in Pennsylvania.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said Thursday that the administration would make an announcement about the expired moratorium soon, likely before month’s end.

Fracking involves pumping large amounts of water and chemicals deep into the ground to break up bedrock and release trapped natural gas. Critics have argued that the chemicals can seep into groundwater and aquifers, contaminating drinking water supplies.

The gas industry has said the practice is safe, and supporters argue that extracting natural gas is essential to help the United States gain energy independence. Earlier this month a leaked New York State health department report indicated that fracking could be conducted safely in upstate New York, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo and environmentalists dismissed the report as outdated and incomplete. Fracking has been banned in New York State since 2008.

Whether natural gas companies would ever find New Jersey an appealing site for fracking remains debatable. Only a small section of the giant, natural gas-laced Marcellus Shale deposit beneath Pennsylvania and New York touches New Jersey’s northwest corner. Another rock formation beneath Marcellus called the Utica Shale stretches into western New Jersey and might contain natural gas, though it has not been thoroughly tested.

“Some say the fracking ban would be merely symbolic in New Jersey, but if the technology continues to improve and makes it easier to get at any natural gas beneath New Jersey, whose to say somebody wouldn’t try to get it?” said Megan Fitzpatrick with Environment New Jersey. “It’s not a gamble we want to be taking.”

In the short term, New Jersey could be more affected by the fracking going on in Pennsylvania. Environmentalists worry that the practice could contaminate the Delaware River, which runs down New Jersey’s western border They have called on the Delaware River Basin Commission to impose a permanent ban on gas drilling near the river.

Fitzpatrick said she recently visited Butler County, Pa., where fracking is practiced, and met a couple whose yard overlooks a fracking site and wastewater pond. She said they can no longer use their shower because the water has been contaminated.

Christie is a proponent of increasing the supply of natural gas available in New Jersey to reduce the state’s dependence on oil, and has supported several natural gas pipeline projects that bring Pennsylvania natural gas to the New York and New Jersey markets. Though still a carbon-based fuel, natural gas burns cleaner than coal or oil, and its price has dropped dramatically in recent years.

In September, Christie vetoed another anti-fracking bill, one that would have prohibited companies from storing or disposing of any fracking wastewater in New Jersey. In his veto message, Christie argued that the ban would be unconstitutional. He said that since fracking does not occur in the state, any wastewater would be coming from another state, and New Jersey cannot regulate interstate commerce.